Split shaft trolley construction for power-and-free conveyor system



y 3, 1962 A. CZARNECKI 3,033,128

SPLIT SHAFT TROLLEY CONSTRUCTION FOR POWERANDFREE CONVEYOR SYSTEM FiledAug. 16, 1960 INVENTOR. fia 6'2 477766;):

United States Patent Office i 3,033,128 Patented May 8, 1 962 3,033,128SPLIT SHAFT TROLLEY CONSTRUCTION FOR POWER-AND-FREE CONVEYOR SYSTEMAdolph Czarnecki, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Anchor Steel and ConveyorCompany, Dearborn, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 16, 1960,Ser. No. 49,865 4 Claims. (Cl. 105-155) This invention relates to workcarrying trolleys adapted and intended primarily for use with overheadconveyors, and more particularly for use in power-and-free conveyorsystems.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel and simplifiedtrolley construction.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing the trolley of thisinvention associated with a power or free conveyor system, the trolleybeing shown in full lines and the associated parts of the conveyorsystem being shown in broken lines;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the trolley, parts thereofbeing shown, in elevation and parts in section for clearness ofillustration.

A trolley 10 embodying the novel features of this invention is shown inFIGURE 1 in combination with a portion of a conventional power-and-freeconveyor system which includes a continuous chain 12 for controlling themovement of the trolley between a pair of laterally spaced, parallelchannel sections 14 and 16 (FIGURE 2) arranged in face-to-facerelationship. Unless otherwise defined, for the purposes of discussionreferences taken longitudinally will be intended to be taken along avertical plane or axis when viewing FIGURE 1 and references takentransversely will be intended to be taken along a plane or axisperpendicular to the plane of the paper when viewing FIGURE 1. Thetrolley 10 includes a longitudinally elongated body 18 of a single castconstruction having a pair of outwardly extending flange portions 19 and20 at opposite sides of the lower end of a central ribbed portion 21.Means for suspending workpieces (not shown) to be conveyed are providedin the body 18 by the holes 22 and 24, located at the outer end and atthe lower extremity of the flange portions 19 and 20, respectively, andalso by the hole 26 located at the lower extremity of the ribbed portion21.

The body 18 has an upper portion 27 which extends outwardly beyondeither side of the ribbed portion 21 and is spaced longitudinally fromthe flange portions 19 and 20 to define the slots 28 and 30respectively. A longitudinal bore 32 in the flange portion 19 intersectsthe hole 22 and is in axial alignment with a smaller diameter bore 33which terminates in a transverse hole 36 located in the upper portion27. In a like manner a longitudinal bore 34 in the flange portion 20intersects the hole 24 and is in axial alignment with a smaller diameterbore 35 which terminates in a transverse hole 38 located in the upperportion 27. The portions of the bores 32 and 34 above the transverseholes 22 and 24, respectively, are threaded.

Wheel assemblies 40 and 42 are carried by the body 10*, are journaled inthe transverse holes 36 and 38, respectively, and provide means forsupporting and transporting the trolley assembly 10 within the channelsections 14 and 16. The wheel assembly 40 includes a wheel 44 which isrotatably secured to small diameter portion 46 of a split shaft 48.Axial movement of the wheel 44 on the shaft 48 is limited by a shoulder50 of a large diameter portion 52 of the shaft 48. The split shaft 48terminates in a portion 54 having a semi-circular cross-section and aflat face 56 with a semi-circular groove 58 therein running transverselyto the axis of the split shaft 48. The wheel assembly 40 has a secondwheel 60 rotatably secured to a split shaft 62, which is similar inconstruction to the split shaft 48, having a flat face 64 'With asemi-circular groove 66. The wheels 44 and 60 of the wheel assembly 40are disposed on either side of the body 18 in the transverse hole 36with the flat face 56 on the shaft 48 mating with the flat face 64 onthe split shaft 62 and with the semi-circular groove 58 in line with thesemi-circular groove 66 such as to define a generally circular aperture;the aperture is positioned in the transverse hole 36 so as to be inaxial alignment with A cam roller 68 is disposed in the slot 28 andjournaled I upon a locking shaft 70. The locking shaft 70 has a largediameter end portion 72 which is partially threaded for engaging thethreaded portion of the longitudinal bore 32. The locking shaft 70 isthreaded into the bore 32 until a shoulder 78 at the juncture of the endportion 72 and a small diameter portion 74 of the shaft 70 abuts theupper portion 27 of the body 18; then, the portion 74, extending throughthe longitudinal bore 33 and through the aperture defined by the grooves58 and 66, locks the shafts 48 and 62 so as to prevent axialdisplacement of the wheels 44 and 60. To facilitate the rotation of thecam roller 68 the threads have been removed from that part of the largediameter end portion 72 about which the cam roller 68 is journaled.

In a like manner a cam roller 79 is disposed in the slot 30 andjournaled upon a locking shaft 80. The latter has a construction similarto that of the locking shaft 70 and is secured to the body 18 bythreadably engaging the threaded portion of the longitudinal bore 34.The locking shafts 70 and 80 can be provided with a conventional Allenhead type of construction in their large diameter portions to facilitateassembly.

An important feature of the construction as described above is that onlya single shaft is required to lock each wheel assembly axially to thebody 10 and, at the same time, to provide means for journaling itsassociated cam roller. An important feature of the split shaftconstruction as described is that in case only one wheel of an assemblywears out, that wheel alone need be replaced instead of the entireassembly. It should be understood that while the above features andadvantages have been described in conjunction with a four-wheel trolleythese features are equally applicable to a two-wheel trolleyconstruction.

The upper portion 27 of the body 18 is provided with channel sections 84and 86 at each end. A dog 88 is pivotally secured within the channelsection 84 by a split pin 92 which is held in the transverse holes 96and 98. Likewise a dog is pivotally secured within the channel section86 by a split pin 94 which is likewise held in a pair of transverseholes.

In operation, the trolley 10 is located between the channel sections 14and 16 with the wheels of the wheel assemblies 40 and 42 contacting thelower flanges 104 and 106 of the channel sections 14 and 16,respectively. The cam rollers 68 and 79 are in alignment with theflanges 104 and 106 and serve to keep the trolley 10 essentiallycentrally located between the channel sections 14 and 16.

The trolley assembly can be driven by the continuous chain 12, in whichcase a pusher member 108, disposed upon a center link 110, is insertedbetween the dogs 88 and 90. The dogs are of an over-center type ofconstruction maintaining them normally in the position shown inFIGURE 1. Depending upon the direction in which it is desired to movethe trolley assembly 10, the pusher 108 will contact either the dog 88or 90, causing it to pivot to an upright position as shown by theposition of the dog 90 in FIGURE 3; in that case, a face 112 of dog 90is in contact with the pusher 108. Upon removal of the pusher 108 thedog 90 will revert to its normally down position. In some cases it isdesirable to allow the trolley assembly 10 to coast down a pair ofinclined channel sections under its own gravitational force and that ofthe suspended body (not shown). In such instances, the pusher 108 can berotated about the center link 110 and out; of contact with either of thedogs 88 and 96, thus allowing the trolley assembly to coast freely.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the inventiondisclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, itwill be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification,variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fairmeaning of the sub-joined claims.

I claim:

1. A trolley comprising a longitudinally elongated body, a pair ofshafts each having an end portion with a semicircular cross-section anda flat face, said end portion having a groove transverse to the axis ofsaid shaft on said flat face, the end portions of said pair of shaftsbeing matably disposed in a transverse bore in said body with saidgrooves in alignment to define an aperture, a pair of wheels each beingindividual to and rotatably secured to an end opposite said end portionon one of said pair of shafts, a locking shaft longitudinally disposedin said body and extending through said aperture defined by said pair ofshafts for locking said pair of shafts to said body, and a cam rollerlongitudinally spaced from said transverse bore and journaled upon saidlocking shaft.

2. A trolley comprising a body, a pair of shafts each having an endportion with a semi-circular cross-section and a fiat face, said endportion having a groove transverse to the axis of said shaft on saidflat face, the end portions of said pair of shafts being matablydisposed in a bore in said body with said grooves in alignment to definean aperture, a pair of wheels each being individual to and rotatablysecured to an end opposite said endportion on one of said pair ofshafts, a locking shaft disposed Car in said body and extending throughsaid aperture defined by said pair of shafts for locking said pair ofshafts to said body, and a cam roller spaced from said bore andjournaled upon said locking shaft.

3. A trolley comprising a longitudinally elongated body; a plurality ofshafts each having an end portion with a semi-circular cross section anda flat face; said end portion having a groove transverse to the axis ofsaid shaft on said fiat face; the end portions of a first pair of saidshafts matably disposed in a first transverse bore in said body with thegrooves in the end portions of said first pair of shafts in alignment todefine a first aperture; the end portions of a second pair of saidshafts matably disposed in a second transverse bore in said body withthe grooves in the end portions of said second pair of shafts inalignment to define a'second aperture; a first pair of wheels eachindividual to and rotatably disposed upon an end opposite the endportion on one of said first pair of shafts, a second pair of wheelseach individual to and rotatably disposed upon an end opposite the endportion on one of said second pair of shafts, a first and a secondlocking shaft longitudinally disposed in said body and extending throughsaid first and said second aperture, respectively, for locking saidfirst and said second pair of shafts to said body, a first and a secondcam roller individual to said first and said second pair of wheels,respectively, longitudinally spaced from said first and said secondtransverse bores and journaled upon said first and second locking shaft,respectively.

4. A trolley comprising a longitudinally elongated body, a first wheelbeing individual to and rotatably secured to a first shaft, a secondwheel being individual to and rotatably secured to a second shaft, saidfirst and said second shafts having interfitting end portions beingmatably disposed in a transverse bore in said body, means including alocking shaft longitudinally disposed in said body and movable to andfrom a locking position for locking said interfitting portions of saidfirst and said second shafts within said transverse bore and to saidbody UNITED STATES PATENTS 79,252 Parrott June 23, 1868 297,539Shoemaker Apr. 22, 1884 2,485,215 Rose Oct. 18, 1949

